Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Thursday returned 10 Bills days after Supreme Court observed that it was a matter of serious concern that the Raj Bhavan was sitting on the Bills.
After the Governor returned the Bills, the Tamil Nadu Speaker M Appavu has called the Assembly session on November 18 to pass the Bills. It is likely that they will once again be sent back to the Governor.
After the Assembly passes these Bills again, it will become mandatory for the Governor to give his assent.
"The governor has been made to eat a humble pie. He has capitulated. The Governor should have done this long ago. After the Supreme Court chief justice expressed his views that this matter raises serious concern, the Governor now returned these 10 bills. We are asking him (Governor), why don't you go tell the Supreme Court that if the Governor does not sign the bill, it means the bill is dead. Why doesn't he go make this pleading in the Supreme Court? He was trying to fool the people of Tamil Nadu. Now his bluff is being called out by the DMK government..." said DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai.
The Supreme Court in its last hearing listened to the complaints made by Tamil Nadu and Punjab governments against their respective state Governors sitting over the Bills. The top court said that the complaints were "a matter of serious concern".
The DMK government had accused the BJP-appointed Governor of deliberately delaying the bills' clearance and scuttling the state's development by "undermining the elected administration".
It had also approached the Supreme Court over the delay on the part of the Governor in granting assent to bills.
The Governor is said to have returned 10 Bills out of 12 Bills pending with him. One of the Bills is aimed at clipping the Governor's authority to appoint Vice Chancellors of state-run universities. There is another Bill seeking prosecution of ex-ministers from the AIADMK.
Speaking to media persons in Tiruvannamalai, Appavu said that a special session will be held under Assembly Rules 26.
"As I have learnt that many legislative Bills have been returned by the Governor, the state government wanted to pass these Bills again after discussions, at a special session in the Assembly," he said.
Replying to a query about the Supreme Court’s recent observation, Appavu said that the special session has been convened only to pass the Bills again and not to discuss the apex court’s observation or any other issue.
The Speaker mentioned that the special law against online rummy and the Bill against NEET were returned in the first instance by the Governor. However, after these laws were passed again in the Assembly, the Governor either approved them (in the case of online gambling) or sent them to the President for approval (Bill against NEET).
"As per the law, the Governor cannot return those Bills that are passed once more in the Assembly. Only those Bills that have been returned by the Governor will be passed again in this special session," he said.
With inputs from IANS
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